JazzTimes (2/96, pp.103-104) - "...Perhaps not since the days of Serge, Gerry and Pepper at their best has a baritonist so easily commanded the listener's attention as Joe does here....Although conversant with bop, Temperley is basically a swingman..."39.93662

"While still small scale, JOE is a muscular film, its storytelling deeper, its setting striking, its acting resonant."Los Angeles Times "Mr. Cage has stripped his performance bare of anything that might smack of a familiar star presence; what's left feels freshly discovered, for him and for us."Wall Street Journal "This is a movie about restraint, which is exactly what its star demonstrates throughout." -- Grade: BA.V. Club 3 stars out of 4 -- "David Gordon Green directs a gritty script that Gary Hawkins adapts from a 1991 novel by Larry Brown. Gripping..."Chicago Sun-Times 4 stars out of 4 -- "One of Green's great gifts as a filmmaker is his ability to create a real sense of mood and place throughout....JOE presents a world that will ring true to audiences at all points of the socio-economic spectrum..."RogerEbert.com 3 stars out of 4 -- "If you need a reminder of what a fine, nuanced actor Nicolas Cage can be, take a look at JOE. This is the kind of artful character study that marked Cage's work in LEAVING LAS VEGAS, RAISING ARIZONA and ADAPTATION."Rolling Stone "The most indelible scenes in David Gordon Greens JOE, filmed in the backwoods of Texas, have the fierce clarity of illuminations glimpsed in a lightning flash."New York Times39.9155

Spin (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]he imbues every note with a forlorn strength, proving her masterly command of both the material and the audience."The Wire (p.57) - "COTTON EYED JOE is the singer raw and unalloyed....The best thing about COTTON EYED JOE is that the performances are so vital, so red blooded..."No Depression (p.63) - "[H]er version of the bues standard 'It Hurts Me Too' takes the song somewhere Elmore James never imagined."Q (Magazine) (p.133) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "With all the rustles and cracks of an old live recording, the performance is full of 'On The Road' beatnik atmosphere..."39.85628

4 stars out of 5 -- "[Friedkin is] uncompromising in his vision, wringing every ounce of grime and salaciousness he can out of KILLER JOE's plot and characters to create the dirtiest black comedy you'll see for a long time."Total Film "KILLER JOE evokes the hardboiled regional poetry of Jim Thompson and William Faulkner, flirts with outright exploitation, [and] provides game actors with roles to relish..."Film Comment "Thomas Haden Church is solid....The film is a surprisingly effective showcase for Matthew McConaughey."Sight and Sound "[McConaughey] exercises his marvelous voice as a Texas detective and contract killer in KILLER JOE."Wall Street Journal 3 stars out of 4 -- "It is expertly directed, flawlessly cast and written with merciless black humor..."Chicago Sun-Times "What could have been a predictable piece of Jim Thompson-style pulp business becomes something much more subversive in Friedkin's hands."Uncut "[KILLER JOE] bristles with sleazy wit....A wellspring of comedy and plot twists, recalling RAISING ARIZONA's colorful vernacular while turning a simple contract job into a complicated web of family betrayals." -- Grade: B+A.V. Club "[With] a killer performance by Matthew McConaughey....Never has noir been more diabolically naughty..."Los Angeles Times 3 stars out of 4 -- "Friedkin catches the dark humor of the piece....McConaughey mesmerizes."Rolling Stone39.84352

"Thomas Haden Church is solid....The film is a surprisingly effective showcase for Matthew McConaughey."Sight and Sound 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Friedkin is] uncompromising in his vision, wringing every ounce of grime and salaciousness he can out of KILLER JOE's plot and characters to create the dirtiest black comedy you'll see for a long time."Total Film "KILLER JOE evokes the hardboiled regional poetry of Jim Thompson and William Faulkner, flirts with outright exploitation, [and] provides game actors with roles to relish..."Film Comment "[McConaughey] exercises his marvelous voice as a Texas detective and contract killer in KILLER JOE."Wall Street Journal "[With] a killer performance by Matthew McConaughey....Never has noir been more diabolically naughty..."Los Angeles Times 3 stars out of 4 -- "It is expertly directed, flawlessly cast and written with merciless black humor..."Chicago Sun-Times "What could have been a predictable piece of Jim Thompson-style pulp business becomes something much more subversive in Friedkin's hands."Uncut "[KILLER JOE] bristles with sleazy wit....A wellspring of comedy and plot twists, recalling RAISING ARIZONA's colorful vernacular while turning a simple contract job into a complicated web of family betrayals." -- Grade: B+A.V. Club 3 stars out of 4 -- "Friedkin catches the dark humor of the piece....McConaughey mesmerizes."Rolling Stone39.84352

Q (12/96, p.124) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...a Don Was-produced album that nudges into the unplugged arena--a place that leaves him plenty of room to move....the main news is that Joe Cocker still misuses his larynx to great effect."39.81093